Falling Stars
by joestej
Summary: Fed up with contracting powerful mercenary groups to do their dirty work, the United Nations field their own special response group: ComStar. But can this ComStar and the strange new technology they bring to the table really be trusted, or do they have their own sinister motives? Life as a high-tech submarine captain just got a lot more interesting...


_Been in a bit of a rut for a bit, so I flipped over an old idea I had just to see what would happen. Frankly, I'm kind of 'meh' about how it turned out, getting canon characters' voices right is always something I found hard, but hopefully you will enjoy it! _

_This story is set post Second Raid, and I've never read the light novels, so don't expect me to play by the book with where this goes. And before you ask, no time travel is involved. This is a concept crossover only. _

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><p>"This is Urzu 2! The situation over here is totally FUBAR! Where the hell did these guys come from?"<p>

"When I find out, I'll let you know," replied Sargent Kurtz Weber. "All these buildings are blocking my sight lines, I can't get a good shot. Damn it, we were sent in for riot control, not urban AS combat!"

"I've counted at least six Savages," the calm voice of Sargent Sousuke Sagara announced. Something exploded in the background. "Make that five."

"Urzu 1 to all units. Fall back to Point Gamma to regroup. De Danaan is launching a UAV to survey the battlefield and get a count on the enemy," Lieutenant Belfangan Clouseau ordered, the interference causing his voice to scratch and stretch. "We can redeploy from there."

"Rodger," Kurtz heard Sousuke reply.

"Rodger," Sergant Major Melissa Mao echoed. "Heading there now."

"Urzu 6, rodger," Kurtz replied, pulling his AS up from its prone position and turning toward the rendezvous point. As he did, his eyes widened when he realized that he had almost walked right into an enemy Savage that had been attempting to flank him.

"Shit!" he yelled, bringing his rifle up, but he knew it was no good.

The twisting, crowded streets of Ahmedabad had provided the Savage perfect cover, and the unexpected ECM jamming the enemy was putting out had allowed it to get too close. Even with the M-9's speed, there was no way he would beat it to the punch. He yanked the controls, trying to throw his AS to the side. With luck, the Savage would only be able to take off his arm, and then-

BLAM!

The Savage exploded, its entire torso completely torn apart by a massive impact. Kurtz rolled his AS back to its feet, scanning for whatever had taken out the Savage. The rest of his team was still scattered across the city, so who could have…there!

He zoomed in on the figure stomping through the streets toward him, and gaped. It was like an AS, but was definitely not any AS Kurtz had ever seen. It was a humanoid vehicle, a meter or so taller than his M-9. But where his M-9 was sleek, this thing was bulky. It was built like a tank, with massive armor plates over every surface and a ponderous gait that shook the street with every step.

Its head was nothing but a sloped box, and it arms lacked any but the most basic articulation. They didn't appear to need it, because it didn't carry a weapon. Instead, a massive short-barrel cannon was built into the thing's right shoulder, bigger than any gun Kurtz had ever seen. Under each arm was a lensed device that he guessed to be either cameras or targeting lasers. A smaller one perched just to the left of the hulking AS's head.

The mystery AS strode through the wreckage of the Savage as though it wasn't there, crushing a severed arm under one of its huge feet before its torso rotated, spinning ninety degrees like a tank turret to focus all its attention on where Kurtz's AS stood frozen.

"You alright over there, pretty boy?" a voice called over the radio, and even through the ECM static, Kurtz thought he detected a slight German accent.

"Fine, thanks," he replied, still slightly surprised. "Who the hell are you?"

"We're with the UN," the mystery pilot replied, and Kurtz noticed that the interference had suddenly begun to lessen. "Heard you all ran into some unexpected problems, so Command ordered us in to give you a hand."

"We?" Kurtz asked, just as another strange vehicle soared over his head to perch atop a nearby building.

This one was small and sleek, but didn't even resemble an AS. From the legs down, it almost seemed like an M-9: long, slender legs for dashing and dodging. But the rest of it… It didn't have arms, a head, or even a real torso. A rounded, narrow cockpit jutted forward from its body, while a pair of rectangular 'wings' sprouted from its side, each housing several more of the lensed targeting equipment. Glowing thrusters protruded slightly from its rear, and a row of missiles laid flat atop its sleek form. Several antenna waved in the air, and caused Kurtz to suspect this machine was responsible for the sudden lack of interference.

"Picking up strays now, Blue Three?" a new voice, female this time, called as the small walker turned to face them. He noticed with some puzzlement that this voice sounded Chinese.

"Just being a good Samaritan, Eyes," the first man responded. "How about you? I thought you were supposed to be scouting?"

"Spoofing around for those jammers," she explained, and the rounded cockpit of her walker rotated to point in another direction. "And there's one now."

Kurtz gasped as the lenses he had taken for targeting equipment flared and spat out glowing streams of energy that stabbed deep into a nearby building. The lasers burned straight through the building's wall and into the interior, before shutting off abruptly and leaving only scorched holes behind.

"There. That should clear this sector. I'll leave the rest up to you guys," the voice said, satisfied. The small machine turned away and its thrusters fired, carrying it into the air to land on a rooftop several hundred feet away. It took a few steps and then jumped again, bouncing off out of sight.

"Urzu 6, the jamming has stopped, and I'm reading an unknown AS at your position. Are you okay?" Mao's voice called, this time without a trace of static. "Kurtz, answer me!"

"I'm fine," he replied, watching the strange burly AS stomp off into the city without another word. "But you are not going to believe what I just saw."

"Try me, Weber," Clouseau stated, and a small window labeled 'Live Feed' appeared in Kurtz's HUD.

In it, he saw a massive bird-like walker, at least twelve meters tall or more, slowly jumping up to the top of a building with more of those jets. The building visibly shifted under its weight, but the machine's pilot seemed unconcerned. The torso spun, and the two large boxes the walker mounted on its 'shoulders' popped open to reveal rows upon rows of missiles. It fired, the missiles swarming off into the sky with a roar. The missile pods closed themselves again, and the walker calmly stomped its way right off the edge of the building, its jets catching it and letting it slowly drift out of sight.

In the distance, Kurtz could see the missiles streaking up from near their designated rendezvous point, burning white trails through the sky as they flew over the city. Without warning, the cloud of projectiles turned instantly, dropping toward the ground in a lethal rain. Though he couldn't see their target, he could feel the resulting explosion as it shook the nearby buildings.

"Fire support units too?" he questioned, even as several other missiles began rising from other areas of the city, filling his HUD with contacts. "Who the hell are these guys?"

"Their vehicles have UN insignias on them, but Al couldn't find any matches for their IFF in his database," Sousuke reported, infuriatingly professional as always. "They could be a mercenary faction, like Mithril."

"Man, I just saw one of these things drill into a building with goddamned scifi lasers!" Kurtz frowned as he turned his AS and began leaping toward the rest of his team. "Where the hell would mercenaries get that kind of technology?"

"Kurtz, Mithril and Amalgam both routinely deploy ASes equipped with Lamda Drivers."

"…point. But still!"

"I've found their communications network," Mao announced. "For such weird gear, they really need to learn to lock down their radio chatter. Patching you all in."

"_Lead, this is Blue Lance. We've reached Nav Point Alpha, and are standing by for more instructions."_

"_Hold position, Blue Lance. Eyes, what's the status on the enemy ECM?"_

"_Almost done, Lead. ECCM is keeping me clear, and I'm enroute to the last generator. ETA two minutes."_

"_Red Lance reporting, Lead. We're at Nav Point Delta. Only light resistance encountered, no serious damage."_

"_Excellent. Hold that position and wait for my signal."_

"_Rodger, setting up a defensive perimeter."_

"_White Lance, Mother Goose is going to be paying us a visit in about two minutes. Please tell me you have the LZ secured?"_

"_Locked tight, Lead. Mother Goose is all clear."_

"_Lead, this is Eyes. I'm getting a faint echo on this line. There is a possibility it's been compromised. I'm running a trace now."_

"Shit!" Mao cursed.

"_What do you have for me, Eyes?"_

"_The trace keeps getting lost in that ECM pocket Red Lance was talking about. Either it's Mithril or they're using them to block me."_

"_Forget it then. How about that hostile ECM?"_

"_Cleaned it while the trace was running. Battlefield's clear."_

"Kill the connection, Urzu 2," Clouseau ordered. "We're heading for the extraction point."

"But what about our mission?" Kurtz complained as his M-9 slid around a corner, revealing the rest of the SRT team's AS's waiting for him in defensive crouches.

"We don't have a choice. The UN is formally requesting that Mithril remove its forces from the city. They've transferred this contract to an internal division. Some group called ComStar."

"ComStar? Sounds like a freaking cellphone provider. And since when have we ever cared what those windbags at the UN want?" Mao snapped with a derisive snort. "Tell those politicians to shove it!"

"No," Clouseau snapped curtly. "This is straight from the captain. We're pulling out. This is ComStar's problem now."

"Fine," Mao agreed sullenly, directing her AS to its feet. Suddenly, the sky itself began glowing, yellow light scorching through the clouds. "What the-"

A titanic craft, almost eighty meters tall, broke through the clouds, its thrusters making a roar like thunder. It was spherical, with several huge landing struts coming off of the bottom and a massive collection of thrusters located in the bottom. The ship began to carefully descend outside of the city, the blast from its jets instantly torching everything below it.

"An orbital military transport…" Sousake muttered with awe. "Who the hell are these guys?"

"I have no idea," Clouseau stated darkly. "But I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future."


End file.
